The Copy Ninja's Daughter
by LegendarywriterZephyrStar
Summary: Meet Miirae, a young ninja who is ready to make her way in the world. She joins her best friends Naruto and Sasuke as team seven's fourth member and is ready to make a name for herself. Will she ever be seen as more than just the Copy Ninja's Daughter?
1. Prologue

A/N: I do not own Naruto

* * *

It was silent in the village of Konoha as the setting sun bathed the sky in a blood red color. Tendrils of smoke rose from several buildings that had been damaged

during the attack that had occurred barely several hours ago. No one knew why the unmarked ninja attacked the village but it didn't help the village's morale one

bit. Many civilians and numerous ninja were in the hospital and the medic nins and doctors that worked there were working overtime to take care of all their

patients. They were particularly concerned about one young kunoichi who, aside from being seriously injured, was nine months pregnant and in labor. Sitting

outside the room the kunoichi was being kept in was her boyfriend. The grey haired shinobi was no older than sixteen and most of his face was hidden, save for

his right eye whose dark grey depths held worry and concern for his girlfriend.

"How is she doing Kakashi-san?" The shinobi, now known as Kakashi, looked up at the man who now stood before him. He easily stood at six feet tall with brilliant

red hair that hung down to his shoulder blades and a single thin braid dangling in front of his right ear and a Konoha hitai-ite sitting securely around his neck. His

eyes were a beautiful emerald green color than shone brighter than any gem stone that could be found and his ears were pointed, showing that he was not a

human but in fact an elf.

"I haven't heard anything in over an hour, Keiji-san." said Kakashi, his hands tightening into fists as screams were heard coming from the room "I'm worried and

if I hear one more scream I'm going to go in there."

"Relax Kakashi." said Keiji as he put a reassuring hand on his shoulder "Everything will be fine. There's no need to go running into the room and if anything does

happen, father and I will be here."

"Arigato Keiji-san." said Kakashi "You and Inazuma-sama have always been so kind to me."

"It's the least we can do." said Keiji "You make Lynn happy and between you and me, I think father has already come to think of you as a second son. Plus

you're like my brother and if the baby survives, you'll be a part of the family by all means except marriage." Kakashi smiled slightly under his mask but the

smile quickly faded when the door opened and a tired looking nurse came out. She seemed surprised to see Keiji but the surprise quickly faded and a neutral

expression took over her face.

"Hatake-san, Caesin-san." she said "You two can go in." The two shinobi nodded and proceeded into the room. Laying on the hospital bed was Lynn, her short,

rich brown hair laying askew and her emerald eyes were dull from exhaustion. She had on an oxygen mask and was hooked up to numerous IVs and monitors.

Kakashi felt his heart drop when her saw her like that but when he saw the bundle she held in her arms, he felt happy and hopeful.

"Kakashi-kun, Onii-san." said Lynn in a hoarse voice.

"Lynn," said Kakashi as he moved to stand by her side "How are you feeling?"

"I'll be fine." said Lynn with a weak smile "And she will be as well."

"She?" said Kakashi "You mean that we have a daughter?"

"Yes, we do." said Lynn weakly "She has your hair and looks and my eyes." Kakashi looked at the bundle in Lynn's arms and smiled at his new born daughter.

She was small and pale with a fuzz of grayish hair on her head and her eyes opened as Kakashi looked at her, revealing that they were emerald green in color.

"Lynn," said Kakashi "She is so beautiful, just like you." Lynn smiled at Kakashi. He couldn't see the dying light in her eyes but her brother could.

"Would you like to hold her, Kakashi?" she asked.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Don't worry," she replied "You'll do fine." Carefully, she placed their daughter into his arms and made sure he was holding her right before sinking back into the

pillows. Keiji stepped forward and looked carefully at his new niece.

"She's definitely a Hatake," said Keiji "But she does have a few qualities of the Caesin clan. Her eyes and her ears." He gently touched the baby's slightly pointed

ear and she squirmed for a moment before settling into sleep. A smile graced the red haired elf's face before he looked up at his sister. Sadness shone in his eyes

for a moment before he looked at Kakashi.

"What are you going to call her?" he asked.

"Well," said Kakashi "Truth be told, we were expecting a boy and we were going to name him after my father but since it's a girl, I'm clueless."

"Miirae." said Lynn "We'll call her Miirae, since she will bring light to many lives."

"Miirae." said Kakashi, testing out the name "Our ray of light. The name suits her. We shall call her Miirae." He turned to say something to Lynn but the sound of

the alarms that machines that were hooked up to her were giving off interrupted him and he just stood there as nurses and doctors came running into the room.

Everything seemed to move at high speed until Lynn was pronounced dead and it was then that everything seemed to move at a normal pace as Kakashi sat down

in a chair by the window. He looked down at the sleeping child in his arms, oblivious to everything else that was going on around him.

"I swear that I'll take care of you little one." he said softly "I won't lose you like I lost your mother. Miirae, my ray of light."

* * *

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Until next time, this is LegendarywriterZephyrStar signing out!


	2. Team assignments

A/N: I do not own Naruto but I do own Miirae-chan!

* * *

Light seeped in through the open blinds of the windows and filled the small bedroom with light. One side of the room was taken up a built in that had numerous

drawers, cupboards, and shelves in it and a desk in the middle. The shelves were filled with knickknacks, jutsu scrolls, and books on an assortment of ninja related

and animal related topics. Blank scrolls, ink, and an assortment of brushes were scattered all over the desk. The bed had dark blue covers with stars and moons

and silver pillows. The walls were painted a soft shade of green and the floors were a light colored bamboo. Numerous posters covered the walls including one with

the emblem of Konohagakure, two or three movie posters, two band posters, a chart of hand seals, a couple diagrams of several different weapons and some hand

painted calligraphy pieces. A fish tank sat on on shelf and inside was a fairly large box turtle, a piece of paper taped onto the tank stated that the turtle's name was

Tomi. On the headboard was her hitai-ite, with the metal plate shining in the morning light, and two small pots that held a bonsai plant and bamboo. There was also

several photos. One was a picture of a grey haired, green eyed girl standing in between a blonde haired, blue eyed boy and a black haired, onyx eyed boy. There was

another picture of the grey haired girl with her father, who also had grey hair, and you could tell that he was smiling even with the mask he wore. The grey haired

girl in question, was sleeping in the bed with the covers pulled up over her face so that only the top of her head was showing. Her breathing was soft and her slightly

pointed ears twitched a bit as her door opened with a soft creak. She cracked open one of her emerald green eyes and glanced around the room before turning over

and snuggling into her covers with a content sigh. Then she found herself laying face first on the ground, tangled in the covers. A foot appeared in front of her face

and she looked up and came face to face with her father, the legendary copy ninja, Hatake Kakashi.

"Umm, good morning father." she said with a sheepish smile on her face.

"Neh, Miirae," said Kakashi as he stood to his full height and crossed his arms "You needed to be up three and a half hours ago. I had to do my morning workout

all alone."

"You know I don't like waking up at four in the morning without a good reason." said the ten year old as she sat up "Besides today is the day I get assigned to my

team."

"Well then you better hurry up because you have twenty minutes to get to the Academy building." said Kakashi.

"WHAT!" said Miirae as she jumped to her feet and ran over to the dresser. She pulled out some clothes and ran out of the room and right into the bathroom.

Two minutes later she came back into her room dressed in a hunter green t-shirt and sepia brown shorts with a sepia brown sash wrapped around her upper

stomach. She had bandages wrapped around her lowers legs and fishnets on her elbows and knees. She grabbed her shuriken holster and black belt pouch and

strapped them on before pulling on black fingerless gloves as she ran out of her room. Kakashi walked up to the door as Miirae pulled on her blue zori and handed

her, her hitai-ate and her satchel.

"Arigato papa." said Miirae as she tied her hitai-ate around her head "I'll see you tonight." she grabbed her satchel as she pulled open the door "Later!" she ran

out, pulling the door closed behind her. Kakashi sighed.

"She's just like I was at her age." he said "Always rushing to be on time. I need to teach her how to be late sometime or not." He shrugged and went into the

kitchen.

* * *

Miirae stumbled through the class room door and was relieved to find out that the sensei hadn't arrived yet. Letting out a sigh of relief, she sat down on the

bench near the infamous Uchiha Sasuke, the top ranked student in the class and one of her best friends of five years. They both nodded to each other in greeting

before Miirae glanced at the doorway as a certain blonde haired ninja entered the room. Uzumaki Naruto, the number one hyperactive, knucklehead ninja in the

class and her other best friend of six years. Miirae smiled when she saw the hitai-ate he wore proudly on his forehead, glad that her closest friend finally passed

and became a genin, a student ninja.

"Hey Miirae-chan!" said Naruto as he sat down next to her "Check it out! I made genin!" He pointed to his hitai-ate with a proud look on his face.

"That's awesome Naruto!" said Miirae as her eyes shining brightly "I knew you could do it."

"Thanks Miirae-chan." said Naruto "I hope that we're put on the same team."

"Good luck with that." said Sasuke "You're more likely to be put on a team with people you don't get along with. They don't want you to with people you get along

with well unless you work well with them."

"No one asked you Sasuke-teme!" said Naruto as he leapt to his feet.

"Naruto, sit down." said Miirae as she tugged on the blonde's sleeve "You don't want to make a scene."

"Fine." said Naruto as he sat down and crossed his arms.

"I don't understand how you can put up with him, Miirae." said Sasuke "He's a dobe."

"Why you!" said Naruto as he moved to stand but Miirae stopped him. Naruto growled and sat back down with his arms crossed. Miirae gave Sasuke a disapproving

look before turning to look at the door as Ino and Sakura came into the classroom. She looked back at Naruto and saw that he wasn't in his seat. Instead, he was on

the desk in front of Sasuke, glaring at the black haired boy. Miirae sighed and ran a hand through her hair as Naruto got beaten up by a bunch of Sasuke's fan girls.

"I really don't like that boy." grumbled Naruto as he sat back down between Miirae and Sakura.

"You really should try and get to know him. Naruto." said Miirae as she pulled out a small first aid kit and began putting a bandage on a cut on the blonde's cheek

"He's really nice and I'd like my two best friends to at least be civil to one another every once in a while."

"But he's so stuck-up Miirae-chan!" said Naruto "HE thinks he's better than every one else just because he's an _Uchiha_." Miirae sighed again as she put her first aid

kit away.

"Could you at least try Naruto?" she asked as she gave Naruto a pleading look.

"Alright," said Naruto as he gave in "I'll try."

"Thank you Naruto." said Miirae with bright smile on her face as Iruka walked into the room.

"Everyone settle down." said Iruka. He waited until all the students were seated and silent before continuing.

"Alright." said Iruka "As you know, from this day forward, you are no longer mere students of ninjutsu, but full fledged shinobi. Despite that, you are all still

novices amongst the ranks of the shinobi. So you all will be placed onto squads of three with the exception of one four man squad, due to the odd number of

students in the graduating class. I selected the members of each squad so that the ability of the squad as a whole would be approximately equal."

'_Equal ability.'_ thought Miirae as Iruka began calling off the squads _'That means Naruto and Sasuke will likely be on the same team. Sasuke being the highest _

_ranked student and Naruto being the lowest. I wonder who will be the third person on their team and I wonder what team I'll be on?'_

"Next, squad number seven." said Iruka "Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto jumped up with a shout of joy but his bubble of joy was quickly busted by the

next name Iruka read "Uchiha Sasuke," Naruto slumped down in his seat as Sakura let out a cry of happiness "And finally, Hatake Miirae." Sakura slumped down in

her seat before shooting a quick glare at Miirae.

'_Why did our team have to be the four man squad?!' _thought Sakura _'Now Sasuke-kun will never notice me because she's on our squad! I know! I'll just have to _

_work harder to win Sasuke's love!'_

'_Interesting.'_ thought Sasuke _'The dobe and the fangirl will most likely get in my way. Miirae will be useful, I know that much. She's equal to me in power but she _

_was pretty low in the class grade wise. Master Iruka probably put her on the team to balance the fan girl out and to help keep the dobe in line.' _Sasuke rolled his

eyes as Naruto began to complain rather loudly to Iruka before looking at the grey haired girl sitting next to the blonde _'She's always been there for me over the _

_past few years and she's helped me grow more powerful. Now that we're on the same team, I'll be sure to watch her back because I know that she'll be watching _

_mine.'_

* * *

"You wanted to see me Hokage-sama?" asked Kakashi as he looked around the small apartment. It was even smaller than the one he shared with his daughter

and that was small but it was on the ground floor and it did have a small yard.

"Yes, I wanted to discuss your next assignment." said the Hokage as he set four folders down on the table "The genin team you will be instructing." Kakashi picked

up the first file and opened it.

"Haruno Sakura." said Kakashi before reading her file.

"She's a smart girl." said the Hokage "One of the top female students in the class. She just needs a little toughening up."

"So I can see." said Kakashi before picking up the second file "Uzumaki Naruto. This is his apartment isn't it?"

'_Why did I have to get stuck with Miirae's prankster friend?'_ he thought _'Oh well, this might be a bit entertaining.'_

"He's a bit clumsy," said the Hokage "But you're the best choice to watch him. You have a talent for sniffing things out. There's also another member of your team

that I would like you to keep an eye on." Kakashi picked up the next file and opened it.

"Uchiha Sasuke." said Kakashi.

'_Great, Miirae's dark and revenge-obsessed friend.'_ he thought sarcastically _'Just what I needed.'_

"He's the best student in the class," said the Hokage "But what he really needs is some guidance. Someone to help steer him onto a different path in life if possible.

It's dangerous to waste your whole life on vengeance. He and Naruto fight quite a bit, that's why we included the fourth member in your team." Kakashi sighed

and picked up the folder, wondering what other genin he was stuck with. When he opened the folder and read the name, his visible eye widened considerably.

"Hatake Miirae." said the Hokage "She scored average grades in the academy but the teachers always had the hunch that she could do much better than she

played off she could. She's the top ninjutsu student, even better than Sasuke in ninjutsu. According to the teachers, she could string together hand seals faster

than most of the teachers could keep up with. She's also the only one who can keep Naruto somewhat in line and stop him and Sasuke from fighting without

getting hit by the cross fire."

"She's a Hatake through and through." said Kakashi as he set the folders down "I should know, I raised her but even I don't know the full extent of her abilities."

"Oh, and why's that?" asked the Hokage.

"She trains with Sasuke quite often." said Kakashi as he rubbed the back of his neck "And for the last few months she's been training with Keiji and

Inazuma-sama. She won't even tell me what she's been learning."

"Well then this will be a learning experience for you, Kakashi." said the Hokage with a smile.

* * *

Well, what do you think? Please press the shiny review button and let me know!

I will work on posting the next chapter as quickly as possible!

Until next time, this is LegendarywriterZephyrStar signing out!


	3. My father's my Sensei! Help!

A/N: I do not own Naruto

* * *

Miirae was sitting at a desk next to Sasuke, watching Naruto wedge an eraser in the doorway as Sakura scolded him. The pink haired kunoichi's voice was already

starting to annoy her and she wondered how Naruto could even like her.

'_Just shut up already.'_ thought Miirae as she played with one of the two braids she had put her hip length hair in _'Quit acting like you're all grown up Sakura. We all_

_ know that you want to see if the prank works on our instructor, so just give up already. There's really no stopping Naruto anyways.'_ She stopped playing with her

braid and began tugging a small pony tail in front of her left ear as Naruto jumped down off of the chair he had been standing on with a pleased look on his face.

"So what do you think?" he asked.

"What do I think?" said Sakura "I think that you're going to get us all in trouble, Naruto!"

"Well it's just what he deserves for making us wait!" retorted Naruto as he crossed his arms.

"Do you really think a Jonin level ninja would fall for such a simple and obvious trap?" asked Sasuke "All you'll really do is just embarrass yourself, dobe."

"No one asked you Sasuke-teme!" snapped Naruto before they all picked up the sound of someone walking towards the classroom. All four genin waited with baited

breath as the footsteps got closer until they stopped right outside of the classroom. The door slid open and the eraser fell on top of the head of a person Miirae knew

very well. The grey haired half-elf slid down in her seat until only the top of her head was visible. Sasuke gave her a questioning look.

"I'm not here." she whispered as she sunk even further under the table trying to make herself invisible.

"Well, my first impression of you guys is..." said their sensei "I hate you all!!" Everyone in the room slumped "Right, so your first assignment is to meet me up on

the roof. That means everyone, including the one hiding under the desk." Miirae pulled herself back into her seat as the sensei turned and left the room. Once he

was gone, team seven made their way up to the roof, where they found their sensei sitting on a railing.

"Alright, all of you have a seat." he said and the four genin took a seat. Sasuke sat on the top step and Sakura sat on his right and down a step. Naruto sat on the

lowest step and to Sasuke's left while Miirae sat on the step between Naruto and Sasuke. Their sensei gave a nod once they were all seated.

"Now I'd like you all to tell us a little about yourselves." said the sensei.

"Like what?" asked Naruto.

"... You know. The usual. Your favorite thing... what you hate most..." said the sensei "Dreams, ambitions, hobbies. Things like that."

"Help us out here coach." said Naruto "You go first. Show us how it's done."

"That's right..." said Sakura "After all, you're a complete stranger to us... A mystery."

"Oh... Me?" said the sensei "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I'm the kind of person who doesn't feel like talking about his likes and dislikes! My dreams for the future

are none of your business... But anyway, I have lots of hobbies...." And he said nothing after that.

"Hey..." said Sakura quietly "He said alot, but all we really learned was his name." Miirae rolled her eyes and shook her head. Leave it to her father to give extremely

vague information.

"Now it's your turn." said Kakashi "Starting with you on the right."

"Me right?!" said Naruto "My name is Uzamaki Naruto! What I like is instant cup ramen! What I like even better is when Master Iruka treats me to ramen at the

Ichiraku noodle bar! But what I like best is hanging out with my best friend, Miirae-chan! What I hate is the three minute wait after I pour in the boiling water. My

dream is to one day be a better shinobi than Lord Hokage!! And then all of the villagers will have to acknowledge my existence at last!! My hobbies are pranks and

practical jokes, I guess." Kakashi scratched the top of his head.

"Right next!" he said. Miirae looked up from toying with one of her kunai.

"Oh, right." she said before putting her kunai away "My name is Hatake Miirae. I like hanging out and training with my friends and family. I also like dogs, hawks,

and practicing calligraphy. I dislike those who hurt my family and friends. My dream is to become a great kunoichi like my mother was and my hobbies are reading

and learning new ninja techniques." Kakashi nodded.

"Next!" he said.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke." said Sasuke "There are plenty of things I hate, but I don't see that it matters, considering there is almost nothing I do like. It seems

pointless to talk about 'dreams' that's just a word, but I do have is determination. I plan to restore my clan. And there's someone I have sworn to kill." Silence

descended upon them for several moments before Kakashi spoke.

"And finally," he said "The young lady on the left."

"I am Haruno Sakura." said Sakura as she blushed lightly "My favorite thing is..... Well it's not a thing, it's a person. A boy... and that boy is... Uh... let's move onto

my dream." she blushed brightly before getting a solemn look on her face "I hate Naruto!" Naruto got a look of extreme sadness on his face while Miirae shook her

head. Naruto could never get a break when it came to his crush on Sakura because she had such a huge crush on Sasuke.

"Enough." said Kakashi "I believe we all understand one another. Formal training begins tomorrow."

"Yes sir!" said Naruto as he saluted "What will our duties be?!"

"Our first project will only involve the members of this cell." said Kakashi.

"What is it?" asked Naruto "What?"

"Survival exercises." said Kakashi. Miirae perked up when she heard that and she began to think.

'_Survival exercises?'_ she wondered _'What kind of survival exercises? Hold on a minute, I remember something. Back when I was just starting in the academy, he _

_use to tell me stories about when he was young. I think he mentioned something about his first training mission with his team during one of his stories. It is quite _

_possible he might try something that has to do with that but then again, who knows what my father's thinking.'_ She was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts by

Kakashi handing them all a sheet of paper that vaguely explained what they were going to be doing tomorrow. The thing she caught right away was that they

weren't suppose to eat breakfast the next morning. She gave Kakashi a look and she saw him smile before he disappeared in a poof of smoke. Her eye twitched. Oh,

he was going to get it when she found him. Naruto blinked when he saw Miirae glaring at the spot their sensei had been standing.

"Umm, Miirae-chan?" said Naruto. Miirae blinked and looked at Naruto.

"Yes Naruto?" she said as she looked at him.

"I just realized something," said Naruto "You have the same family name as Kakashi-sensei."

"You're right Naruto." said Sakura "Are you related to Kakashi-sensei, Miirae?"

"Umm, well... you see..." said Miirae as she rubbed the back of her head "I've gotta go!" She sprang to her feet and ran out of there faster than one could say

'Konohagakure'. Naruto and Sakura blinked in surprise while Sasuke shook his head.

"She's hiding something." said Sasuke.

"Really?" asked Sakura as she looked at Sasuke "What could she possibly be hiding?" Naruto shrugged while Sasuke stood up.

"Where are you going Sasuke?" asked Naruto. Sasuke stopped and looked back.

"I'm going to train." said Sasuke before continuing on his way.

* * *

Kakashi was leaning against a tree in a small park. In his hand was a small orange book titled, _Icha Icha Paradise_ and he was blushing lightly as he read the book.

Suddenly a foot came out of nowhere and kicked him in the side of the head, sending him tumbling into a nearby tree. Two zori covered feet appeared near his head

and Kakashi looked up to see Miirae standing there with her hands on her hips, glaring at him.

"Yo." said Kakashi as he waved. Her gem-like eyes narrowed before she turned away and crossed her arms with a huff. Kakashi was back on his feet in a flash before

picking up his book and dusting it off.

"What's up Miirae?" he asked as he put the book away.

"You know that you're so embarrassing sometimes father?" she said as she faced him again, her arms still crossed.

"I try." said Kakashi as his visible eye became an upside down u, indicating he was smiling.

"Sometimes I wonder if I'm the parent and you're the child." said Miirae. Kakashi put one arm around her and gave her a hug.

"Miirae-chan," he said "You know how I am."

"Yeah." she said quietly as she looked down.

"We can talk more later." said Kakashi as he let her go "I have somewhere I need to be." He ruffled her hair before walking away. Miirae watched him leave before

sitting down at the base of the tree and watching the people walking about the park.

"Hey momma, look!" she heard a little girl say "A ninja! Can I be a ninja someday?"

"Maybe when you're older." Miirae heard the mother say "Let's go home. Your father's getting back from his mission tonight and I wanted to make him something

special for dinner."

"And after dinner could we all go get ice cream?" asked the little girl as she and her mother began to leave the park.

"Of course." said the mother as they disappeared into the crowds of the market place. After she could no longer see them, Miirae sighed softly.

'_Is that what it's like to have a mother?'_ she wondered _'I wouldn't know and I don't think I'll ever know. To never know a mother's love. That is my curse.'_ As she

sat there, she could hear some of the older villagers whispering as they passed her.

"There's that Hatake girl. The one without a mother."

"She's an unwanted child, I'll tell you that much. Nobody wanted another Hatake around, especially after what Sakumo did."

"I know. I don't get what that elf girl saw in the copy ninja but they never should've been allowed to have a kid."

"A Hatake and a half breed. That makes her almost as bad as that demon brat Naruto."

"She's friends with that little demon. That makes her as bad as him but we can't do anything about it because her father is in the Hokage's favor. That'll get us into

trouble we don't need."

Miirae looked down at the ground but held back her tears and pain. Ninja never show any emotion. That was an important rule of the ninja.

"Miirae-chan!" Miirae looked up when she heard someone call her name and a smile graced her face when she saw a familiar head of red hair. She jumped to her feet

and began to run over to the person.

"Uncle Keiji!" she said as he swept her into a hug.

"Miirae-chan!" said Keiji as he let Miirae go "How's my favorite niece?"

"I am alright Uncle." said Miirae, the dark emotions from earlier disappearing thanks to her uncle's infectious optimism "And guess what? I passed the graduation

test! I'm now a genin."

"That's great Miirae-chan!" said Keiji with a smile "So did you get put on your team yet?"

"Yeah." said Miirae "I'm on a four-man squad because there was an uneven amount of graduates. My teammates are Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura."

"And who is your Jonin instructor?" asked Keiji. Miirae looked down and bit her lower lip for a moment before looking back up at him.

"My father is my sensei." said Miirae. Keiji tilted his head to the side, a sign that he was thinking.

"They must've had a very good reason for doing that." said Keiji "They normally avoid giving a sensei a student that's related to them." he shook his head "Say

Miirae-chan, I know I kinda missed your birthday by a few months."

"No kidding." said Miirae as she crossed her arms.

"Well, I got you a late birthday/graduation present." said Keiji before pulling out a long, cloth wrapped object "Here you go!" Miirae smiled and took the object before

unwrapping it. The object was a finely crafted katana with a circular brass guard, a dark blue wrapped hilt with a matching colored sheathe and a brass bell attached to

the end of the hilt. The hilt was also decorated with brass clouds and a small dragon near the end.

"Uncle, it's wonderful!" said Miirae as hugged the sword before tying it to her belt "Thank you so much!"

"I knew you would like it." said Keiji as he ruffled her hair "You have been doing really well during the lessons father and I have been giving you, so I decided it was

time for you to have your own sword."

"I really don't know what to say Uncle." said Miirae as she gave her uncle a hug.

"A simple 'thank you' would suffice." said Keiji as he patted her head.

"Well, thank you Uncle." said Miirae as she let her uncle go and smile.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again Miirae-chan." said Keiji "But I have to get going. I still need to turn in my mission report and get home before Seiko comes looking

for me."

"How is Aunt Seiko?" asked Miirae.

"Well, besides her being overly emotional and moody, she's doing fine." said Keiji "Our fifth child is due in about four months."

"Well good luck Uncle." said Miirae "You're going to need it."

"Thanks Miirae-chan." said Keiji as he turned to leave "I'll see you around."

"Bye Uncle!" said Miirae as her uncle left. She sighed and looked at her watch. It was time for her to start heading home. Sighing again, she left the park and began

walking towards home. The activities of the day were winding down as most of the shops began to close and people began heading home. Light chatter filled the

mostly quiet air and very few people were out on the streets. Turning down an alley way with tall wooden fences on either side, Miirae walked until she reached the

middle of the alley before stopping and tapping part of the fence. A hidden gate opened and she walked into a small yard, closing the gate behind her. In the yard

was a shed that had a large dog door in the door and a tiny cement patio that led to the front door of the apartment she and her father called home. Her favorite part

of the yard was the mature cherry tree that sat the corner of the yard, opposite of the shed. A hammock was strung between the tree and the apartment, providing

a calming place to relax and unwind. After making sure the gate was secure, she began to make her way towards the door only to be tackled by her father's ninken

pack. All eight dogs were licking her face and wagging their tails happily as she sat up.

"Pakkun! Shiba! Biscuit! Akino! Guruko! Ūhei! Urushi! Bull! Down boys! Give her some room to breathe!" said Kakashi as he came out of the house through the

open front door. All the dogs backed off with the exception of Biscuit, who remained on Miirae's head as she stood up.

"You would think I've been gone for days with the way they greet me." said Miirae as she walked up to Kakashi. She took Biscuit off of her head and set him down on

Bull's head.

"They're attached to you." said Kakashi as he turned to head back inside "You let them get away with alot."

"Do not!" said Miirae as she followed him into the small apartment.

"You're the reason why they're allowed to sleep where ever they want to." said Kakashi as he walked into his room.

"Not my fault you're soft!" she called after him before sitting down on the couch in the tiny living room/dining room.

"I'm soft am I?" asked Kakashi as he came back into the room "Well then I guess I won't give you the graduation present I got you."

"I'm sorry father." said Miirae "You are the toughest person I've ever met and you're not soft. Can I have my present now?" Kakashi thought about it for a minute

before smiling.

"Alright." said Kakashi.

"Cool!" said Miirae "Where is it?" She notice his vest move slightly and she raised an eyebrow. Kakashi smirked under his mask before unzipping his vest and pulling

out a small, fluffy twelve-week old puppy. It was deep black in color with a grayish nose, golden amber eyes and it vaguely resembled a wolf.

"Surprise." said Kakashi as he held out the puppy to Miirae "Your very own ninken to train." Miirae smiled brightly and took the puppy into her arms.

"He's perfect father." said Miirae "Where did you get him?"

"Someone was giving them away." he said "Little guy was the runt of the litter and I knew that if there was anyone who could make him into a good ninken, it

would be you."

"Thank you father." said Miirae with a smile before looking at the puppy "Now what should I name you?"

"How about something that's easy to remember and say." suggested Kakashi. Miirae thought about it for a moment.

"I know!" said Miirae "I'll call him Kuma!" The puppy yipped happily and lick her nose, making her giggle. Kakashi smiled happily at the scene. He was glad that

Miirae was happy and not glaring at him like she had been earlier. He wanted her to be happy because she brought so much light and joy into everyone's life.

"So what's for dinner father?" asked Miirae as she looked at him.

"We're going out for dinner." said Kakashi "How does Ichiraku's sound?"

"Awesome!" cheered Miirae which made Kakashi chuckle lightly as they exited the apartment.

* * *

So, what do you think? I think having a daughter has made Kakashi-sensei soft.

Kakashi: I'm not soft!

Be quiet before I give you to the fan girls!

Kakashi: Shutting up.

Good. Now please review or leave a comment. Anything is welcome, even flames.

Kakashi: That's because she's desperate for reviews.

I heard that! And no, I'm not desperate for reviews. I just like to hear what people have to say because it helps me improve my writing!

Kakashi: Whatever you say chief.

(Rolls eyes) Anyway, keep on reading and until next time, this is LegendarywriterZephyrStar signing out!


	4. Survival Exercises

A/N: I do not own Naruto..... but I do own Miirae ^^

* * *

"Where the hell is our Sensei?!" growled Naruto as he kicked at the grass. Miirae looked up from picking at the grass.

"Beats me." she said "He should've been here by now." _And if he doesn't get here soon, he's going to face my wrath after training._

"Some Sensei we have." said Naruto. Miirae's ears twitched and she stood up, while made her teammates look at her.

"He'll be here shortly." she said.

"How can you tell?" asked Sakura.

"My hearing is more sensitive than yours." said Miirae as she gentle tapped her sensitive ears "If I really wanted to, I could hear what was going on on the other

side of the village. My mother was an elf after all."

"You're half elf?" asked Sakura in a rather blunt manner.

"You make it sound like a bad thing." said Miirae "I'm not the only half elf in Konoha. There's a couple others but most of them hang out in the elven district of the

village. That's why you probably have never seen them." Sakura got a rather sour look on her face before looking up at the path.

"Good Morning!" said Kakashi as he came walking up.

"You're late Sensei!" said all four of his students in unison.

"Sorry." said Kakashi as he walked up to the posts used for target practice "Now let's get started." He pulled out an alarm clock and set it before placing it on top of

a post "This alarm is set to go off at noon." He turned to face his students as he put a hand in his pocket "You're goal is," He pulled his hand out of his pocket "To

get one of these bells from me and be back at these posts before noon." The was a jingling noise as three bells fell out of his hand and he held them by the strings

"Those who fail to retrieve a bell will be tied to a stump and be forced to watch as I eat my lunch in front of you."

"There's only three bells, Sensei." said Sakura.

"That's right." said Kakashi "One of you will fail and be sent back to the Academy." He hung the bells on his belt "You may use shuriken and kunai if you wish.

Attack as if you mean to kill."

"But Sensei that would be dangerous!" said Sakura.

"Yeah!" said Naruto "You couldn't even dodge an eraser! You'll get killed."

"Only the weak talk so loud." said Kakashi "Please ignore the dunce." Miirae noticed that Naruto's eyes narrowed and before she could stop him, he had pulled out a

kunai and move to throw it at Kakashi but a hand grabbed his wrist. Naruto's hand was twisted so that the kunai was pointing at his own head and a hand was

resting on the back of his head.

"Impatient aren't you?" said Kakashi "I didn't even say 'go' but you were going to attack me with the intent to kill. That means that you've begun to respect me

and maybe, just maybe, I'm starting to like you four." He let Naruto go and reappeared in front of the four genin "Ready... go!" Miirae jumped off and landed

behind a tree before quickly and quietly scaling it and perching on a high branch over looking the clearing. Her father was still standing there and so was Naruto.

Miirae silently face-palmed at her friend's decision to attack their sensei head on.

"Naruto, do you always have to be so direct?" she muttered to herself and surveyed the area a little bit, looking for a good place to strike from, before climbing

higher into the tree.

* * *

After trapping Naruto in a tree and using a genjutsu on Sakura, Kakashi began looking around for Miirae and Sasuke. He knew that those two would be a bit more

difficult to find than Naruto and Sakura. Especially Miirae, who took to the trees like a fish to water. As Kakashi walked into a clearing, his foot hit a rope, triggering

a trap. He easily dodged the knives that came flying at him before blocking an attack from Sasuke.

* * *

Miirae watched intently as Sasuke and her father fought and she could tell that her father was holding back a bit but that didn't matter as she readied herself to

spring. When Sasuke used his fireball jutsu, she tensed and got an amused look on her face when her father used Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Release:

Double Suicide Decapitation Technique) on Sasuke. As her father was walking away from Sasuke, Miirae sprung. Her rope dart shot out and wrapped around

Kakashi's arm. The grey haired Jonin looked at the rope wrapped around his arm before looking at Miirae.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up Miirae." said Kakashi before grabbing the rope "But I was expecting more from you." He yanked the rope and

Miirae was pulled forward but she used the momentum to bring her foot around with the intent to kick him in the face. Kakashi easily blocked her kick and the

punch that followed before shoving Miirae away. Twisting in mid-air, she landed on her feet and faced Kakashi before charging at him. Her hands flew through

hand seals and there was a poof of smoke and when the smoke cleared, there were two Miirae charging at Kakashi. They both attacked Kakashi and Kakashi easily

dispelled the clone before sending Miirae crashing into the ground but when she hit the ground, she disappeared in a poof of smoke. Kakashi quickly grabbed the

hand that was reaching to grab one of the bells and flipped Miirae, but she caught herself and sent a sweeping kick at his feet. When he dodged, she lunged for the

bells but he dodge again and grabbed the back of her shirt before sending her flying into a bush. Quickly climbing out of the bush, Miirae noticed that Kakashi wasn't

there. She stood there looking around until her ear twitched as she picked up the sound of someone moving underneath her and she quickly jumped into a tree as

two hands shot out of the ground in an attempt to grab her legs. When Kakashi didn't come out of the ground, Miirae climbed a bit higher, searching for him but a

thud brought her attention back to the clearing. Looking down at the clearing, she saw that Sakura had fainted when she saw Sasuke buried up to his neck.

Sighing, Miirae climbed out of the tree and walked over to Sasuke.

"Need a little help Sasuke?" she asked as she crouched down in front of him.

"Yes." said Sasuke "The fangirl wasn't much help." Miirae giggled softly.

"I'll have you out in a jiffy." she said with a smile before she began to dig Sasuke out.

"Where's our Sensei?" asked Sasuke.

"Probably off torturing Naruto." said Miirae as she uncovered Sasuke's arms. Grabbing Sasuke's hands, she began to pull. After a few minutes without success, she

began to dig some more, this time with Sasuke's help. Grabbing Sasuke's hands again, she pulled and this time, Sasuke came out of the ground and Miirae landed

on her back with Sasuke on top of her. Their faces were mere inches apart and both of them were blushed lightly before quickly separating.

"Thanks." muttered Sasuke softly before he began to brush himself off.

"No problem." replied Miirae before going over to Sakura and shaking her awake. Sakura had just sat up when they heard the alarm going off, making a feeling of

dread settle down on them as they made their way back to the posts. When they got to the posts they were quite surprised to find Naruto already tied to one of the

posts while Kakashi was reading a certain orange book that Miirae wanted to burn so badly. The three of them sat down around the post Naruto was tied to and

once they were settled, Kakashi put his book away and looked over his students.

"Well, all of you failed to retrieve a bell." said Kakashi "But I won't be sending any of you back to the Academy because extra schooling would just be a waste of time."

"Actually Sensei." said Miirae as she stood up. She reached into her pocket and a faint ringing was heard before she pulled out a bell. Kakashi's hand moved to the

bells at his waist and his visible eye widened faintly when he only felt two bells but his student's didn't notice it.

"Very good Miirae." he said "You retrieved a bell but you only completed half of the mission. However you did much better that your teammates, so I will pass you."

"But Sensei," said Miirae "This bell isn't just for me. I'm going to share this bell with my teammates."

"Oh, and why's that?" asked Kakashi.

"Because it took a combination of Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke distracting you to give me time to come up with a plan to retrieve the bell." said Miirae "They also

wore you down a bit so that it would be easier for me to retrieve the bell. We worked together as a team to retrieve it, though it may not have been well organized

or even purposeful, it still took a combination of all of us." Kakashi closed his visible eye and nodded.

"You put some thought into this didn't you Miirae?" asked Kakashi.

"I do take after my father, Sensei." said Miirae.

'_That you do.'_ thought Kakashi before speaking "If you thought it out so well, could you please share with your teammates the objective of this training mission,

Miirae?"

"The objective of this training mission is to promote teamwork within the squad and to measure the degree at which the squad works together as a team so that

the proper method of training can be determined." said Miirae "The reason behind this is that now matter how skilled a ninja is, they will eventually need to work

with a partner and they need to know how to work with a team or they will fail their mission." Kakashi nodded.

"Precisely." said Kakashi "Even though the objective was to retrieve a bell and be back at these posts by noon, you remained behind to help your teammates.

Ninja live by the code, 'complete the mission no matter the cost' but true ninja would help out their team and still complete the mission. Remember this, those

who abandon their mission are trash but those who abandon their comrades and friends are worse then trash. You'll need to keep that in mind during our training

sessions from here on out."

"You mean...?" asked Sakura.

"That's right." said Kakashi "All four of you pass and from here on out, I'm going to be whipping you into shape!"

"Alright!" cheered Naruto "We're not going back to the Academy!"

"Listen up!" said Kakashi "Training officially starts tomorrow, eight o'clock sharp. So until then, you are dismissed. Later." Turning Kakashi walked away. Once he

was gone, Miirae turned to her teammates.

"Hey, who's up for ramen?" she asked "My treat."

"Oh, yeah count me in Miirae-chan!" said Naruto.

"Sure." said Sasuke.

"Well, I am kinda hungry." said Sakura "I'll go too."

"Good." said Miirae as she pulled out a kunai and easily sliced through the rope wrapped around Naruto "Last one to Ichiraku's is a rotten egg!" Miirae slipped her

kunai away and took off.

"Hey! Wait for me!" called Naruto before running after Miirae.

"What a pair of little kids." said Sakura as she looked at Sasuke. She saw him smirk before he took off after them. Her eyes widened and she started running after

Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun wait for me!" she called.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was observing his students from his perch in a nearby tree and he smiled faintly as he watched their interactions.

"You four have a long way to go." he said as he watched them run towards the ramen stand "Miirae... Naruto... Sakura... Sasuke... I have a feeling that you are

going to be some of the strongest ninja this village has ever seen. You and your friends are the future of this village and our Will of Fire."

* * *

Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, but the good news is I finally go it posted!!!!!

Kakashi: Well, if you didn't work on six different stories for six different genres at the same time you might be able to post chapters faster.

But working on multiple stories at the same time prevents me from ever getting writer's block or getting bored. Yes many of my stories suffered and early death due

to boredom T_T

Kakashi:.... I'm not even going to comment on that

No one asked you to. Anyways Until next time this is LegendarywriterZephyrStar signing out!


	5. A Short Break

A/N: I do not own Naruto

* * *

It was a peaceful and quiet morning until an alarm broke the silence like a harbinger of doom

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Be-!_

The alarm was cut off by a hand slamming down on it before the hand retreated back under the blankets. Tossing the blankets aside, Miirae swung her legs over the side of the bed and

stretched before standing up. Picking out some clothes, she carried them into the bathroom and got ready for the day before going into the kitchen. As she went to open the fridge, she

noticed a note hanging on the door. Pulling the note off, she opened the refrigerator door and grabbed a bottle of apple juice. Then she closed the door and opened the juice. Taking a sip,

she began to read the note.

'_Miirae,_

_I apologize for the late notice but I had to leave early this morning for a mission. I won't be back for three days, so you can inform your teammates that there won't be any training until _

_I get back. Try not to destroy the house while I'm gone and be sure to feed the dogs. Also, you are not, and I repeat, ARE NOT, allowed to have any boys inside the house while I'm gone _

_and I will know if you do. Don't throw any parties either. I will see you in three days._

_Your father_

_P.S. If you need anything, you know who to talk to.'_

"Typical." said Miirae as she set the note down "Always running out on missions." She took another sip of the juice before she went over to the cupboard under the sink and pulled out a

large bag of dog food. She poured some food into the smallest bowl before whistling.

"Pakkun!" she called and a small pug came running into the kitchen from where ever he had been. Moving over to a slightly larger bowl, Miirae poured food into it before whistling a

slightly different whistle.

"Biscuit!" A small, tannish colored dog came running in and licked Miirae's hand before going over to his bowl. Miirae smiled slightly before filling the next largest bowl a whistling a softer

whistle.

"Guruko!" A tan dog with a white muzzle jumped off of the couch and trotted over to his food bowl. Whistling a high pitched whistle as she filled up an average sized bowl, Miirae called

yet another dog once she was finished.

"Shiba!" A dog with a black crest on his head came bolting out of the bathroom and skidded to a stop in front of his food bowl.

"What were you doing in the bathroom?" asked Miirae before shaking her head "Never mind. I don't think I want to know." She poured food into three more bowls and whistled in three

similar pitches.

"Akino! Ūhei! Urushi!" A tan dog with shades came out from under the table, a reddish-brown and white dog with lots of bandages came trotting out of Miirae's room, and a white dog

slipped in through the dog door before going over to their respective food bowls. Sighing, Miirae dumped food into the largest bowl before doing a two fingered whistle.

"Bull!" A huge, black bulldog came lumbering out of Kakashi's room and Miirae patted his head as he walked past her and over to his food bowl. Then Miirae filled up the last bowl, which

was on the smaller side, before putting the bag of food away. Whistling a windy whistle, she set the bowl down on the ground.

"Kuma!" she called and her ninken came running out of her room. Now roughly the same size as Guruko, Kuma's black fur was still very shaggy and he appeared to be more wolf like than

before. Barking happily, Kuma began munching on his breakfast while Miirae got her own food. As she munched on some toast, Miirae looked at the calendar hanging on the wall by the

fridge, to see if anything was going on. Something caught her eye and Miirae smiled before devouring the rest of her food and draining the rest of her juice before she ran into her room

and gathered her training supplies. Once she was ready, she ran to the door and yanked on her zori as she ran out, closing the door behind her as she did so.

Miirae arrived at the bridge where her team normally met, ten minutes later and her teammates were already there.

"Hey, Miirae-chan!" said Naruto as he waved.

"Hey Naruto." said Miirae as she walked up to them.

"You're late Miirae." scolded Sakura "You're lucky Kakashi-sensei isn't here."

"Yeah, about that." said Miirae as she rubbed the back of her head "I ran into Iruka-sensei on the way here and he told me to inform you that our Sensei will be out on a mission for the

next three days."

"So we came out here for nothing?!" whined Sakura.

"Stop whining Sakura." said Sasuke.

"So what are we going to do now?" asked Naruto.

"Well, we could train." said Miirae before getting a sly smirk on her face "Or we could go to a festival!"

"Festival?" said Sakura with a confused look on her face "There aren't any festivals this time of year."

"Not in the main part of the village." said Miirae with a smile "But in the Elven district there is. Today's the festival celebrating the first day of fall. The Autumnal Festival. It's going to be

great, just like it is every year."

"But if it's in the Elven district," said Sakura "Isn't it just for elves?"

"No, silly." said Miirae "It's open to the whole village. It's a rather fun. Elves can get rather festive but the best part is that you don't need to dress up for it. Awesome, ne? So who's up

for going?"

"I am so up for going to a festival!" said Naruto.

"Sasuke, Sakura?" said Miirae "What about you two?"

"I'll go." said Sasuke "Because I know Naruto will complain if I don't."

"Well if Sasuke-kun's going, then I'm going!" said Sakura.

"Well, now that that's settled." said Miirae "Follow me!"

----------------

The Elven district was starkly different from the main part of the village. For one thing, it was heavily forested and for another the houses and buildings were built within and around the

still living trees. The type of architecture that filled the district consisted of smooth and elegant curves and it reflected everything that could be seen in nature. Water features were

everywhere and birds and tree dwelling animals were plentiful. It was even more beautiful now that it was decorated for the festival. Both humans and elves were milling around and

children were running about laughing and having a good time as cheerful music floated throughout the district.

"Wow, look at all of this!" said Sakura as she looked around "I've never seen anywhere as lively as this!"

"Nor will you ever find another place like it." said Miirae before an amused look crossed her face when she saw Sakura fawning over some elven made dresses.

"Everyone always manages to find something to do here." said Miirae as Naruto ran off. A small smile graced her face as she watched Naruto interact with her mother's people. The elves

had always been more accepting of Naruto than the other villagers, even treating him like one of their own at times. Their acceptance of him was what kept Naruto from becoming a

spiteful person and it helped make him more accepting of others. Miirae glanced at Sasuke when he sighed slightly.

"This place." he said as they walked "It always seems to soothe my soul, if only for a little while."

"I know." said Miirae "That's why I invited you guys along. You seemed to need some time to relax."

"I thank you for that." said Sasuke as they stopped in front of a game booth. It was a dart game and the objective was to hit the rapidly moving targets without using chakra. The game

was difficult even for an elf and the elven shinobi in front of them failed miserably in his attempt to hit the bulls-eye.

"I swear that thing gets harder every year." said the shinobi as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Better luck next year, Ken." said the elf manning the game.

"Whatever Aki." said Ken before walking away.

"Say," said Aki "What's up Miirae-san?"

"Hey Aki." said Miirae as she walked up to the stand with Sasuke "How's everything going?"

"Alright." said Aki "I'm expecting my first grandchild in a couple days."

"Well congratulations." said Miirae.

"Say, Miirae-san," said Aki "Would you or your boyfriend like to give my game a try?"

"He's not my boyfriend Aki." said Miirae "He's one of my best friends."

"Sure thing Miirae-san." said Aki with a wink "So would you kids like to try?"

"I'll try." said Sasuke as he pulled out some money and gave it Aki.

"Right, we've got a challenger here." said Aki as he handed Sasuke three darts "Hit the red bulls-eye and you get a small prize. Hit the yellow bulls-eye and you get a medium prized. Hit

the green bulls-eye and you get a large prize." Sasuke nodded and took aim as the targets began to move. His first throw was a miss, his second throw hit the edge of the yellow target,

and his third throw hit the green target right smack dab in the middle of the bulls-eye. Aki gave an approving nod.

"Good job boy." he said with a smirk "Your my first winner today. Take your pick." He motioned to the large stuffed animals dangling from the roof to the booth. Sasuke turned to Miirae.

"Why don't you pick one?" he said. Miirae nodded before pointed at the large green dragon. Aki nodded and pulled the dragon down before giving it to Miirae.

"There you go Miirae-san." said Aki "You two have fun."

"Thanks Aki." said Miirae before she and Sasuke walked off. Aki shook his head before turning his attention to his next customer.

"So now what should we do Sasuke?" asked Miirae as they walked. Sasuke shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. Miirae sighed before looking up ahead. A smile graced her

face before she began to wave her free hand wildly.

"Uncle! Rune! Lynk! Over here!" she called. Sasuke glanced up to see who she calling to. Keiji came walking up to them with his long stride and easily swept Miirae into a sweeping hug

before setting her down as two younger looking elves joined them. The first was Keiji's oldest son, Rune. Rune was eighteen years old and he stood at an even five foot eleven with the

same fiery red hair that Keiji had, except his barely reached the middle of his neck. The second was Keiji's second son, Lynk. Lynk was fourteen and he was five foot five, having not yet

hit a growth spurt, with golden blonde hair that was cut into short, shaggy layers. They both possessed the same soft olive complexion and gem-like emerald eyes that their family, the

Caesin clan of Konohagakure, was renowned for.

"Hey there squirt." said Lynk as he ruffled Miirae's hair "How's the weather down there?" The response he got was a rather hard punch in the arm and a dark glare.

"Lynk, behave yourself." said Rune sternly before turing to his younger cousin "Miirae," He turned his gaze to the boy by her side "Sasuke." Sasuke nodded his head in

acknowledgement.

"Hi Rune." said Miirae with a smile on her face.

"Say, Rae-chan." said Keiji "Shouldn't you and your friends be at training?" Amusement glinted in his eyes "I'm sure your Sensei isn't pleased that you are skipping training to come to

the festival."

"Our Sensei, Uncle, is going to be out on a mission for the next three days." said Miirae "We all decided to come here to have a little fun."

"Really now?" said Keiji with a smile "Well, then don't let me get in your way. Oh, and by the way, I saw your friend Naruto over at Shy's noodle shop. It looked like he was going to get

involved in Shy's Extra Spicy Ramen eat-off, just so you know." With a smile an wave he walked off with his sons training behind them.

"He seemed to be in a hurry." said Sasuke.

"He is the head of the Caesin clan, Sasuke." said Miirae as she and Sasuke began walking towards Shy's noodle bar "He's in charge of all the comings and goings of this district. It's

expected of him to personally oversee the festival during its duration." Sasuke shrugged before yawning. Miirae rolled her eyes and sighed softly. They arrived at Shy's noodle bar several

minutes later and were greeted by the sight of Naruto in the middle of a ramen eat-off with the shop owner's son, Swift. Miirae and Sasuke were personally greeted by the shop owner

herself. Shy was a kind elf with pale brown hair and cloudy grey eyes, indicating that she was blind. Shy had opened this noodle bar with her husband several years ago after Shy had

lost her sight during a simple C-ranked mission that had ended up as an A-rank mission due to the client lying about specific details.

"Hey Shy." said Miirae as she and Sasuke took a seat at the bar.

"Hello Miirae-chan." said Shy with a gentle smile. Miirae and Shy began to chat with Sasuke occasionally interjecting as they watched Naruto and Swift face off. Sakura eventually

wandered in and her, Miirae, and Sasuke enjoyed some plain ramen while Naruto half laid on the bar with a please look on his face even though he had an overly stuffed stomach.

Naruto let out a small groan as Shy set a glass of water down in front of him.

"Thanks Shy." said Naruto as he took a sip of the water.

"So how are you enjoying the festival so far Sakura?" asked Miirae as she eyed the four bag sitting at Sakura's feet.

"It's absolutely wonderful!" said Sakura "I'm thinkin that I should come to this district more often!"

"Well that's good to here." said Miirae as she glanced at Naruto "Naruto looks like he's ready to go home."

"Not yet!" said Naruto "I'm not going home until after the fireworks."

"Fireworks?" said Sakura.

"Yeah, you'll love them, Sakura." said Miirae "Especially since we have some of the best seats in the house."

"Really? Where are they." asked Sakura.

"You'll see." said Miirae with a smile before going back to her ramen.

----later----

"So where are we going?" asked Sakura as she walked besides Sasuke. It was getting dark out and Miirae was leading them to where they could watch the fireworks.

"To my Uncle's place." said Miirae "He has the best place to watch fireworks from."

"Where is that?" asked Sakura.

"Right there." said Miirae as she motioned to the largest tree in the district. A seven foot high wall surrounded the tree and the actual house was built in and around the tree. The tree

itself was massive and it radiated chakra, along with an extremely soothing aura.

"Wow." said Sakura as she looked up at the massive tree in awe "That tree is huge."

Miirae smirked as she looked at Sakura.

"This tree," said Miirae "And this whole area where here long before the Village was. My mother's people lived here and grew these trees. In fact the Caesin clan helped found the Village

with both the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan. They gave the land so that the village could be built."

"Really?" asked Sakura "I read that this district was the oldest district in the village and that the elves were here before the village but I never knew that."

"Yeah." said Miirae as they walked up to the gate that lead to her Uncle's estate. The guards let them in and one of the servants lead them up to the highest balcony where Keiji and his

family were already sitting. Keiji, his wife Seiko, Rune, Lynk, and twin girls named Rose and Lily greeted the four genin before all of them settled down. Miirae was sitting between Naruto

and Sasuke while Sakura was sitting next to Sasuke. Everyone was chatting quietly until the first firework was set off, then everything went silent as they watched the magnificent

fireworks light up the sky. As they watched the fireworks, Sakura tried to grab Sasuke's hand but the Uchiha moved his hand so that it rested on his bent knee.

'_Stupid fangirl."_ thought Sasuke before glancing at Miirae out of the corner of his eye. She looked beautiful as the flashes of light lit up her form and some of the light reflecting in her

eyes. Sasuke slowly inched his hand towards her but stopped when she move her hand to brush on of her braids back over her shoulder. Withdrawing his hand, Sasuke looked back up at

the sky.

'_If only she knew.'_ He thought _'Miirae-chan, I will find a way to win your affection. I will get you to see me as more than just a friend because that is how I would like our relationship to _

_be. __You are the only girl I want Miirae-chan.'_ Sasuke's hand clentched for a moment before he let it relax as a single thought flittered through his mind _'I will not fail.'_

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Please review by clicking the shiny button down below!

Until next time this is LegendarywriterZephyrStar signing out!


	6. A Mission to Protect part one

A/N: I do not own Naruto

* * *

The forest was silent and still but suddenly three blurs were running through the trees.

"What's the distance to the target?"

"_Five meters. I'm ready anytime."_

"_So am I."_

"_Me too."_

"Is the trap ready?"

"_Yes."_

"Okay! Go!"

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke lunged for a small creature that was attempting to run away.

"Got' cha!" said Naruto as he grabbed a cat that had a ribbon on its left ear.

"Nyaaa!" said the cat as it turned and attacked Naruto's face.

"GAH!" said Naruto as he fell to the ground. The cat quickly took off and dodged both Sakura and Sasuke before disappearing into the brush.

"_Did you retrieve the target?"_

"Negative." said Sasuke "It got away... again."

"Actually, it didn't." said Miirae as she came out from behind a tree. The cat was in her arms, purring as she stroked its head.

"I take that back." said Sasuke "Target has been retrieved."

"_Ribbon on the left ear.... Are you sure this is the target Tora?"_

"Yeah, we're sure." said Sasuke as Tora purred happily.

"_Good, lost pet "Tora" search mission.... Complete."_

----later----

"Oh, my cute little Tora-chan!" said Madam Shijimi as she hugged Tora "I was so worried!" Team seven seemed to have a variety of expressions on their faces as they

watched the scene before looking up at the Hokage as he began to speak.

"Now... Kakashi's Team number seven, your next duty is..." said the Hokage as he began to look through a list "Hmm... Babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping in a

neighboring village, and help with the potato digging."

"NO!! NO!! NO!!" said Naruto as he made an x with his arms "No, thank you!! I want to do, you know, a more incredible mission!!! Find us a better on!!"

'_I agree...'_ thought Sasuke, the impassive look on his face never changing.

'_Geez... How annoying...' _ thought Sakura as she frowned at Naruto.

'_Just like Naruto.' _ thought Miirae with a tiny smile _'Impatient as ever.'_

"_I thought it was about time for this."_ thought Kakashi with a sigh.

"You idiot!!" said Iruka as he stood up "You're just a rookie!! Everyone starts off with simple duties and works their way up!!" Naruto instantly began to protest.

"But we keep getting the crappiest possible duties!!" he complained.

"Be quiet you!" said Kakashi as he bonked Naruto on the head. Miirae gave her father a disapproving look before the Hokage began to explain what the duties of a ninja

were. Naruto stopped listening about halfway through and began wondering what he should have for dinner.

"Hey!" said the Hokage when he noticed that Naruto wasn't listening "Listen!"

"I-I apologize." said Kakashi as he rubbed the back of his head. He had a feeling that he was going to get yelled at for Naruto's actions later.

"Geez!" said Naruto turned to face the Hokage "All you do is give lectures like that. But you know what?! I'm not the troublemaking brat you still think I am!" There was

silence and Miirae noticed that the Hokage was smirking.

'_That can't be good."_ she thought before the Hokage spoke up.

"Okay." said the Hokage "If you want it that much... I'll give you a C-ranked mission. It's a protection mission of a certain individual." Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi got

looks of shock on their faces and Naruto cheered happily while Miirae just shook her head with a smile on her face.

'_Leave it to Naruto to complain enough to get Lord Hokage to give us a C-ranked mission.'_ thought Miirae.

"Who?! Who?!" asked Naruto excitedly "A feudal lord?! A princess?!"

"Calm down, I'm about to introduce him." said the Hokage before looking over to a door "Hey, will you come in here?"

"What's this?" asked an older man as he slid the door open "They're all a bunch of super brats." He took a drink from the bottle in his hand and Miirae wrinkled her nose

when she smelled the alcohol and she was sure her father could as well "Especially, the blonde with the super stupid-looking face. Are you really a ninja? Hey?!" It was

quite clear the man was slightly intoxicated but Naruto didn't realize that when the man's words finally sunk in. Kakashi had to hold Naruto back by the back of his jacket

when Naruto went to lunge at the man. Sighing, Miirae faced Naruto and thumped him rather hard on the head. That got the orange clad to stop and he sat on the floor

rubbing his sore head.

"What's the point of killing the person we're suppose to protect? Idiot!" said Kakashi as he let Naruto go.

"I'm the super expert bridge builder Tazuna!" said the man "I expect you to provide me super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge."

"Right." said Kakashi "All of you go get ready. Meet at the gate in half an hour."

"Yes Sensei!" said the four genin before running off. Once outside, the four of them went their separate ways to get ready for the mission. When Miirae got back home,

her father was already there and had pulled out two knapsacks from the closet.

"Perfect timing Miirae." said Kakashi before tossing her one of the knapsacks "Go get packed. Think of this as one of our camping trips. You know what you need."

"Yes father." said Miirae as she ran into her room. Setting the bag down, she began going through the drawers and cupboards. She pack a set of sleep clothes, two extra

sets of clothing, a rain poncho, and a canvas blanket. Then she packed blank tags, ink and a brush, several lengths of wire, extra packs of kunai and shuriken, two demon

windmill shuriken, and extra medical supplies. Then she checked the weaponry she had on her and nodded in satisfaction before picking up the katana her uncle had given

her. She hadn't used it on a mission yet and she decided that this would be a perfect opportunity. The katana was carefully strapped to her back before she picked up her

knapsack and grabbed her canteen. Walking out into the living area, Miirae noticed that Kakashi had laid out traveling rations for her. She quickly put the rations neatly in

her bag before filling up her canteen and strapping it to her belt. Kakashi came walking out of his room just as she finished putting her knapsack on her back.

"Bring Kuma with you." he said.

"Why?" asked Miirae.

"He needs the experience." said Kakashi as he walked towards the door. Miirae nodded before whistling for Kuma and her ninken came running out of her room and

stopped right in front of her before sitting down.

"Come on Kuma, we have a mission." said Miirae. Kuma barked happily before following Miirae out the door. After closing and locking the door and the gate, Miirae ran to

the gate with Kuma at her heels. She arrived at the gate just as Sakura and Sasuke arrived.

"Hey." said Miirae while Kuma barked in greeting.

"Oh, what a cute dog!" said Sakura as she held her hand out for Kuma to sniff before petting his head "What's you name?"

"His name is Kuma." said Miirae as she crossed her arms "And he's suppose to be a ninken but as you can see, he still needs quite a bit of training." Kuma had wandered

over to Sasuke by now and he was sniffing the Uchiha's leg while Sasuke did his best to ignore the dog.

"I'm more of a cat person." said Sasuke "Then again, most Uchiha's prefer cats over dogs." Kuma looked up at him curiously before trotting over to Miirae and sitting down

next to her as Kakashi came walking up with Tazuna.

"Are all of you ready to go?" asked Kakashi as he looked over his team "Where's Naruto?"

"Alright!" said Naruto as he came walking up "Let's go!"

"What are you so excited about?" asked Sakura as she put her hands on her hips.

"Cause..." said Naruto "I've never left the village before."

"Hey!!" said Tazuna "Am I really going to be safe with this brat?"

"He he.." said Kakashi as his eye became an upside down U indicating that he was smiling "Well, I am a Jonin, don't worry." Miirae noticed that Naruto had a ticked off look

on his face and she thumped him again before he could say anything.

"Don't let him get to you Naruto." said Miirae as they began to walk "You'll have to deal with far worse than him, trust me."

"Fine." said Naruto as he crossed his arms "But I don't have to like it."

"I never said that you had to like it." said Miirae "Just ignore the harsh comments and you'll do fine."

----two days later----

For two days they had traveled in silence, for the most part. Tazuna would occasionally antagonize Naruto and Miirae had to deal with the seething blonde every time

before it could get ugly but other than that it was silence. That was until Sakura asked Kakashi is they would run into any ninjas in wave country. After a detailed

explanation from Kakashi that Miirae had gotten when she was about six, Kakashi reassured Sakura that they wouldn't run into any ninja during this mission. As Miirae

moved to walk in the front of the group, she noticed that Tazuna had a slightly guilt look on his face when Kakashi was reassuring Sakura. She wasn't the only one to

notice the expression, Sasuke noticed it as well. As they continued to walk, Miirae noticed a puddle on the side of the road and her eye narrowed slightly before looking up

at the sky. There wasn't even the slightest trace of clouds and there hadn't been for a good week. The sound of rippling water suddenly reached her ears and Miirae froze

in her tracks before closing her eyes.

"What is it Miirae?" asked Sasuke, who happened to be the closest to her.

"We're not alone." she whispered before her eyes shot open when she heard the sound of a chain "Behind us!" The group turned in time to see a chain tighten around

Kakashi. The chain was held by two mist ninja who were clothed in a similar manner.

"One down." said one of the ninja before they yanked on the chain and tore Kakashi to pieces. Four of the five people in the group had the look of sheer surprise on their

faces while Miirae narrowed her eyes.

'_I swear, you love to do this to me father.'_ she thought before tensing as the two ninja appeared behind Naruto.

"Two down." said one of the ninja before the whipped their chain with the intent to sentence Naruto to the same fate Kakashi had met. Miirae nodded to Sasuke and he

quickly pinned the chain to the tree with both a shuriken and a kunai. While Miirae jumped up and landed on their shoulders.

"Sayonara." she said before she kicked their heads together. Then she kicked them both in the face and sent them flying back. Landing, she turned and to her surprise,

the two ninja detached the chain and one went for Naruto while the other went for Tazuna and Sakura. Sasuke quickly got between the ninja and Sakura but before the

ninja could do anything, he ran right into Kakashi's arm. Kakashi had the second ninja unconscious and under his other arm.

"_Show off." _thought Miirae as she helped Naruto to his feet.

"Naruto," said Kakashi "I'm sorry I didn't save you immediately. I got you injured." Kakashi sighed a bit "I didn't think you would freeze like that." He turned to the rest of

his students "Anyway, nice job Miirae, Sasuke, and you too Sakura." Miirae noticed the jealous look Naruto was giving Sasuke.

"Hey." said Sasuke as he looked at Naruto "You alright... Scaredy Cat?" Naruto growled angrily but Kakashi spoke up before Naruto could do anything.

"Naruto, save it for later." he said "Their claws are soaked in poison. We have to remove it quickly. We must open the wound and release the poison from your body. Don't

move much, the poison will spread."

"I'll that care of his injury Sensei." said Miirae as she pulled out her first aid kit. Kakashi nodded before looking at Tazuna.

"Tazuna-san." said Kakashi.

"What is it?" asked Tazuna.

"I need to talk to you." replied Kakashi. Miirae took Naruto's hand and pulled out a kunai.

"This might hurt a bit Naruto." said Miirae before cutting open the would. Putting the kunai away, she pulled out a small red pill and gave it to Naruto.

"What's this?" asked Naruto.

"A blood pill." said Miirae "It speeds up the production of blood cells. That way, you won't lose too much blood while the poison is bleeding out." Naruto nodded and ate the

pill while Miirae pulled out a small jar with a white paste in it , some gauze, and bandages. Once, Miirae was sure enough blood had been let out, she cleaned the blood off

of the wound. She wasn't surprised to see that it was already healing, so she put some of the paste over the wound before covering it with gauze and bandaging it.

"There." said Miirae as she packed away her medical supplies "You're good to go Naruto." She put her first aid kit back into her belt pouch and turned to face the others.

"Good job Miirae." said Kakashi.

"Thank you Sensei." said Miirae "So what are we going to do?"

"We're going to continue with the mission." said Kakashi "Even though the client lied to us, we promised to protect him until the bridge was complete and that's what we

are going to do. Everybody, get into formation and move out!"

"Yes Sensei!" said the four genin before they continued down the road.

* * *

Please rate and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Until next time this is LegendarywriterZephyrStar signing out!


	7. A Mission to Protect part two

A/N: I do not own Naruto

* * *

The boat rocked and creaked as it moved slowly through the mist. Everyone was silent not only because the owner of the boat had told them to keep quiet but because none of them were

in much of a mood to talk.

"What thick mist." said Sakura quietly "I can't see ahead." Miirae glanced at her before looking ahead. She could see a bit further ahead that here teammates but the mist still hid many

things from her.

"We should see the bridge soon." said the boat owner quietly "The Wave country is at the base of the bridge." Every looked forward and slowly, a huge shadow began to slowly appear in

the distance. Once they were close enough, they saw a partially finished bridge and boy, it was huge!

"Wow!" said Naruto a bit too loudly "It's huge!"

"Hey, be quiet." hissed the boat owner "Why do you think we're hiding in the mist and not using the engine? We'll be in deep trouble if Gatou finds us." Naruto quickly covered his mouth

and looked around quickly. Silence quickly returned and Miirae took a moment to observe their surroundings as the mist began to clear up. Something felt off, it was like they were being

watched. She quickly moved to pet Kuma, so as not to draw suspicion to herself but her eyes looked briefly with Kakashi's and she could tell that he sensed the same thing. Kuma looked

up at her curiously, his golden eyes shining brightly.

"**Do you sense it Kuma?"** Miirae whispered to the puppy in elven. Kuma glanced towards the shore and Miirae felt him tense slightly before he relaxed and started wagging his tail. Miirae

looked up at the bridge as the boat drifted past it.

"Tazuna..." said the boat owner quietly "It looks like we've avoided detection so far but just in case, we'll take the route that has vegetation. It will make it harder to spot us."

"Thanks." said Tazuna with a sigh of relief as they went into a tunnel.

"Wow." said Naruto as they came out of the tunnel. They were in a mangrove now and there were houses built over the water. All of the students were looking about curiously at this

different style of living, even the ones who didn't look like they were. The boat owner steered the boat over to a dock and let them off.

"This is it for me." he said "Good bye and good luck."

"Yeah." said Tazuna "Super thanks." The boat owner nodded before turning on the motor and driving off. Tazuna sighed before they began to walk.

"Ok!" he said "Get me home safely."

"Alright." said Kakashi as they walked. Miirae sighed as Naruto ran up to the front of the group while she trailed back to walk next to her Kakashi.

"Sensei." she said quietly so that Tazuna couldn't hear her.

"Yes Miirae?" he asked as he glanced at her.

"Someone's following us." she whispered.

"I know." said Kakashi quietly "Just pretend you don't notice them. That will give us the advantage."

"Yes Sensei." she whispered before Naruto yelled out.

"There!" he said before throwing shuriken. They hit nothing and everyone just stared silently.

"Heh..." said Naruto "Just a rat..."

"Stop trying to act cool!" yelled Sakura "There was nothing there!"

"Hey..." said Kakashi nervously "Please stop using shuriken. It's seriously dangerous."

"Hey midget!!" yelled Tazuna "Stop acting like a moron." Naruto ignored them all as he continued to look around. Miirae sighed heavily as she began to walk towards Naruto. There was a

rustle in the bushes and Naruto threw another shuriken.

"I said stop!!" said Sakura as she punched Naruto.

"Oww!" said Naruto.

"Sakura, I'd appreciate it if you didn't hit Naruto." said Miirae "Hitting him won't knock anymore sense into him."

"No one asked you, Miirae!" snapped Sakura "The idiot could've given away our position!" No on noticed Sasuke's eyes flash as Sakura yelled at Miirae.

"Well," said Miirae calmly "You probably just gave away our position even more with your yelling." Sakura sputtered angrily before turning to Kakashi for help.

"Oh!" said Sakura when she saw the white rabbit that Kakashi had found. Naruto gasped and he instantly began apologizing to the rabbit while Sakura yelled at him angrily. Miirae's eyes

narrowed in suspicion before she closed them and listened. As she focused, she heard the heartbeats and breathing of those who stood around her, the wind blowing gently through the

trees, and.... a heartbeat and breathing that didn't belong to anyone in her group. There was a faint rustling followed by the sound of a blade being moved and.... Miirae's eyes snapped

open.

"Everyone, get down!" she and Kakashi yelled at the same time. While everyone else dove to the ground while Miirae crouched down low and covered her head with her arms. There was a

rush of air and a whistling noise that rang through her ears as something large flew over them. She heard something heavy hit a tree followed by the sound of someone landing. Looking

up, she saw a man standing on the handle of a massive sword. Naruto went to charge but Kakashi stopped him.

"Everybody get back." said Kakashi "This one's on a whole other level." He cracked his knuckles "Against him... It will be a little tough.." He grabbed his hitai-ite "Unless I do this." He

began to pull his hitai-ite up.

'_This must be serious if he's going to use _that_ against him.'_ though Miirae as she looked up at the man.

"You appear to be sharingan Kakashi..." said the man "Sorry but the old man is mine."

"Surround and protect Tazuna." said Kakashi "Do not enter the fight. That's the teamwork here."

He pulled his hitai-ite up a little more "Zabuza, first..." He let his hitai-ite go, revealing the deep scar over his left eye "Fight me." Slowly, he opened his eye, revealing his greatest weapon,

a sharingan eye.

"Ah..." said Zabuza "I already get to see the famous sharingan. I'm honored." He chuckled before continuing "Now, let's end all the talking. I have to kill that old man." All four genin

quickly got into position around Tazuna. Sasuke in front, Naruto on Tazuna's left, Sakura on his right, and Miirae behind him. Zabuza looked over the four genin like a wolf looked at sheep

before his gaze returned to Kakashi.

"But Kakashi." he said "It seems I have to beat you first." He grabbed the hilt of the huge sword before pushing off of the tree, taking the sword with him. He then landed on top of a

nearby lake. He made hand seals and Miirae felt the air become heavy with water and chakra.

"Ninpou: Hidden Mist Jutsu." said Zabuza as a heavy mist covered the area and he disappeared.

"He's gone!" said Tazuna with shock and fear in his voice.

"He'll come after me first." said Kakashi "Momochi Zabuza... As a member of the Hidden Mist, he was known as an expert in silent killing. You don't even notice until you're already dead.

It's not like I can use the sharingan perfectly. You guys be careful."

"The mist is getting thicker!" said Naruto as the mist got thicker before Zabuza's voice echoed through the air

"_Eight choices." _said Zabuza.

"What?!" said Sakura and fear was quite evident in her voice.

"_Liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein, neck vein, brain, kidneys, heart." _said Zabuza _"Which one should I go after?" _Miirae was mentally cursed as the mist hindered her sight. Sure, she could

still hear perfectly but it took away from some of her abilities. Zabuza was out there, she could hear his heartbeat and shallow breathing and that allowed her to locate the general area he

was in but nothing more. A strong killing intent hung heavy in the air and Miirae could smell that her teammates were scared, especially Sasuke.

"Sasuke." said Kakashi without glancing back "Don't worry. I'll protect you guys even if it kills me."

'_I hope it doesn't kill you.'_ thought Miirae _'Cause if it does, I'm going to hunt you down in the afterlife and kick your ass then!' _

"Don't worry." said Kakashi as he offered the genin a smile "I don't let my comrades die."

"_We'll see about that!"_ said Zabuza. Miirae's eyes widened when Zabuza appeared behind Sasuke and in front of Tazuna.

"It's over." said Zabuza as moved to swing his giant blade. Miirae quickly turned and grabbed Tazuna before yanking him back with quite a bit a strength for someone her size while

Kakashi dug a kunai into Zabuza's abdomen. Water began leaking out of the wound and Miirae caught movement behind Kakashi.

"Sensei!" yelled Naruto "Behind you!!!!" Zabuza turned into water as a second Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi with his blade aiming to cut the jonin in half. Which he did but to

everyone's surprise, Kakashi turned into water. Miirae got a deadpan look on her face.

'_Do you always have to do that to me father?'_ she thought _'I swear, you're going to make my hair go white before I reach the age of twenty!'_

"Don't move!" said Kakashi as he held a kunai to Zabuza's neck "It's over!"

"Wow!" said Naruto, thinking that it was over while Miirae narrowed her eyes as she placed a hand on the hilt of her katana. Kuma growled softly as he took a defensive position next to

Tazuna. Zabuza chuckled.

"It's over?" he said "You don't get it. There's no way you can defeat me with your monkey-like imitations." He chuckled again "But that was impressive of you." He glanced back at Kakashi

"At that time, you had already copied my Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu. You had your clone say those words to attract my attention while the real you hid in the mist and watched me. Nice plan

but..." A second Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi "I'm also no that easy." The Zabuza in front of Kakashi turned into water and Kakashi ducked under Zabuza's blade before Zabuza landed

a hard kick in his chest and sent the Copy Ninja flying out into the lake. Zabuza stopped before he ran into the spikes Kakashi had thrown down as Kakashi began to pull himself out of the

water. Zabuza appeared behind him as he did hand seals.

"Water Prison Jutsu." said Zabuza.

"What the-?!" said Kakashi as he was instantly trapped in a sphere of water.

"You may have been trying to escape to the water," said Zabuza "But that was a big mistake." He chuckled "I now have you in my inescapable special prison. It makes things tougher if

you can move, you know."

He looked at the four genin and Tazuna "Now Kakashi, we can finish things later. First I'll have to take care of them." He made a hand seal "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu." A water clone rose up

out of the water and the four genin had expressions of shock and terror on their faces. Miirae's expression quickly turned into a determined one and her hand gripped the hilt of her katana

tighter. The water clone stepped onto the shore chuckling as he did so.

"Wearing forehead protectors and acting like real ninjas..." said the clone "But you know what? A real ninja is someone who has survived numerous brushes with death. Basically, once

you're good enough to be listed in my book then you can start calling yourself a ninja. You guys should not be referred to as ninjas." Zabuza disappeared, only to reappear in front of

Naruto and send him flying with a single kick, knocking the blonde's hitai-ite off of his head. Kakashi yelled at them to run but none of them moved until Naruto got up and charged at the

Zabuza clone, only to be sent flying back again.

"What are you doing jumping in all by yourself?!" yelled Sakura "We genin have no chance against him!" She blinked in surprise when Naruto stood up with his forehead protector in his

hand.

"Hey, you eyebrowless freak." said Naruto as a bit of blood trickled out of his mouth "Put this in your handbook. The man who will one day become Hokage..." He lifted up his hitai-ite and

tied it back into its proper place "Leaf Village Ninja, Uzumaki Naruto!" Zabuza chuckled a little before bursting into all out laughter.

"A little brat like you?" said Zabuza "The thought of it just makes me laugh!" He easily pulled the huge sword of of his back "Now, let me show you what happens to people who have

dreams like yours!" Zabuza charged and swung his sword with the intent to strike Naruto down. There was a ringing and then the sound of metal hitting metal. Some of the mist

dissipated, revealing that Zabuza's huge sword was being held back by a delicate looking katana crafted from a bright silver metal. The katana was held in reverse with one hand and part

of the sword arm bracing the blunt side of the blade. Zabuza's eyes narrowed as his gaze locked on the small grey haired girl holding the katana.

"Little girls shouldn't play with swords." sneered Zabuza.

"And someone like you shouldn't judge a person by their appearance." said Miirae calmly "Especially me." Zabuza was slightly surprised when her eyes took on a reptilian appearance for a

moment but his face didn't show it. Her chakra flared up and she shoved Zabuza's sword away before slashing at him before he could react. The water clone disappeared with a splash and

Miirae quickly flipped her katana so that she held it properly before blocking the sword of another Zabuza water clone.

"You're brave girl, I'll give you that much." said Zabuza "But how much of that is courage and how much of it is fear?" He shoved her back and Miirae skidded before blocking another

strike. Every one of his strikes was heavy and Miirae found herself tiring out quickly. Zabuza quickly took notice of this and after she blocked another one of his strikes, he brought his foot

up and kicked her hard in the stomach. A small amount of blood came out of Miirae's mouth as she went tumbling across the ground. Zabuza quickly charged after her and Miirae barely

managed to get to her knees and block yet another heavy blow.

"You have some skill girl, I'll give you that much." said Zabuza as he applied more pressure "But," A faint cracking caught Miirae's attention "You're not skilled enough." The was a loud

snap and Miirae rolled out of the way as Zabuza's blade crashed into the ground. Miirae grabbed her arm as blood began to flow from a long cut on her arm. She dropped her katana, which

was broken about two feet from the hilt, and fell down on one knee.

"Miirae!!" said her teammates in unison as Zabuza pulled his blade out of the ground.

"Say your prayers kid." said Zabuza before letting out a cry of pain as Kuma chomped down on his ankle "Get. Off. You. Mutt!" He shook his leg and after a few moments, he managed to

send Kuma tumbling across the ground.

"Kuma!" said Miirae before diving out of the way of Zabuza's blade. She hit the ground hard and something came tumbling out of her backpack. Glancing up, she blinked in surprise when

she saw the turtleshell laying on the ground in front of her.

"Tomi?" she said quietly before rolling out of the way of Zabuza's sword. Pushing herself up onto her feet, she grabbed the turtleshell and somersaulted out of the way of the large blade a

second time before facing Zabuza, holding the turtleshell in her hands.

"What is that?" asked Zabuza as he looked at the turtleshell in her hands. Suddenly a turtle popped out.

"Tomi! Tomi!" said the turtle. Everyone sweat dropped before Zabuza laughed.

"What are you going to do with that?" he asked "Throw it at me?"

"No." said Miirae "I've got something better planned." She looked down at Tomi "Ready Tomi?"

"Tomi, Tomi!" said the turtle before jumping out of her hands and landing on the ground. Miirae did three quick hand seals and the turtle became surrounded by silvery chakra.

"Tomi Transformation Technique!" said Tomi before he was surrounded by a large cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared a huge version of Tomi was standing there. Tomi now stood

roughly six feet in height and seven feet in diameter with large saber tooth fangs sticking out of his mouth and fur around where his head, legs, and tail met his shell. Tomi roared and the

transformation took everyone aback.

"Right, so now you have a big turtle." said Zabuza "What are you going to do now little girl?"

"This." said Miirae as she jumped onto Tomi's back before doing more hand seals "Synchronized Combustible Mudslide Jutsu!" Tomi opened his mouth and a jet of thick mud shot out of his

mouth and shot straight through the water clone and hit the real Zabuza, covering him with the sticky mud while Miirae did more hand seals.

"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu." said Miirae as she took a deep breath. Then she exhaled, releasing a stream of fire from her mouth. The fire hit the mud and caught it on fire. The flames quickly

sped down the stream of mud and raced towards Zabuza. The missing nin's eyes narrowed and his free hand flew through hand seals.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu." he said. A stream of water erupted out of the lake and took on the form of a dragon as it sped through the stream of mud, dispelling both it and the fire

before crashing into Miirae and Tomi and sweeping them off of their feet and pulling them back into the lake. Miirae's head broke the surface a few seconds later and she coughed a bit.

"Miirae!" yelled Kakashi "Get out of the water now!" Miirae nodded and she began to swim towards the shore but something grabbed her ankle and yanked her underwater. Turning, Miirae

kicked at whatever had grabbed her but her foot was grabbed by Zabuza's water clone and it slammed her into the lake bed before wrapping his large hands around her small neck. Miirae

clawed at his hands as her supply of air quickly dwindled. Suddenly, the water clone vanished in a torrent of bubbles. Tomi's large form appeared and turned so that she could grab on.

Grabbing the edge of his shell, Miirae rested against him as he began to head for the surface. Miirae's vision began to get blurry and her lungs were burning and she suddenly gasped,

allowing water to get into her lungs. That was when everything went black.

* * *

The sound of a drop of water falling woke Miirae and she slowly opened her eyes. Soft rain was dripping through leaves that hung high over head.

"Where....?" she said before slowly sitting up. She was in a forest and it was raining. Carefully, she moved to stand on her feet.

**You shouldn't be here**

"Who's there?" she asked as she looked around.

**It is too early**

"What?" said Miirae.

**You must leave. It is not time**

"Time? What time?" asked Miirae.

**You will find out soon enough. Now go**

Before Miirae could say anything, everything vanished and darkness returned.

* * *

"Come one kid, breathe!" said Tazuna as he did chest compressions on Miirae while Sakura was sitting next to them. Tazuna leaned down and listened to see if she was breathing. He

suddenly jerked back when Miirae began to cough and he quickly rolled her over so that she could get the water out of her lungs. Miirae braced herself on her hand and forearm as she

cough heavily until a good majority of the water was out of her lungs and she could breathe properly.

"Take it easy kid." said Tazuna "You almost drowned. If it hadn't been for that turtle of yours, you would've been sleeping with the fishes." (Bad joke, I know)

"Thanks Tazuna-san." she said as Kuma came walking over to her with Tomi on his back.

"Kuma, Tomi, thank you for your help." said Miirae with a small smile as she moved into a kneeling position and coughed again.

"Tomi, Tomi." said Tomi.

"Ruff, Ruff!" barked Kuma. With Sakura and Tazuna's help, she stood up slowly. Leaning against Sakura for support, them walked over to where Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke were with Kuma

and Tomi at their made it over to the area just as a Hidden Mist Tracer nin took off with Zabuza's body. Kakashi looked over at them.

"Miirae, are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." said Miirae before coughing again.

"Good." said Kakashi "Now let's get Tazuna to his house." He pulled his hitai-ite down over his sharingan eye and turned to walk away before suddenly falling flat on his face.

"Sensei, are you alright?" asked Sakura.

"He'll be fine." said Miirae "By the looks of it, he just used a bit too much chakra."

"That's right, actually." said Kakashi "Sorry about that guys." Naruto and Sasuke sighed before hefting Kakashi between them and then all of them continued on their way.

* * *

Well, how was this chapter?

I'm rather desperate for reviews, so please press the little button down below

Until next time, this is LegendarywriterZephyrStar signing out!

(Holds up the adorable puppy known as Kuma

All those who review will get to hug Kuma

Clicky the button and review please


	8. A Mission to Protect part three

A/N: I do not own Naruto

* * *

Tazuna's house was built out on the water like many of the houses they had seen since coming to the village but it had a somewhat pleasant feel to it. They

were greeted by Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, when they entered the house. She had quickly ushered them to rooms where they could rest and clean up a bit

before dinner. Miirae was currently tending to the injury on Kakashi's right hand while her teammates cleaned themselves up in a different room.

"Are there any other injuries I should know about father?" asked Miirae after making sure no one else was around.

"A couple of my ribs were fractured." he said "But they can be taken care of later." Miirae carefully began to stitch the gash on his hand closed "Truth be told,

he was a little bit stronger than I expected but I didn't think it would be that easy to beat him. Something's up."

"I agree." said Miirae as she finished stitching his hand "Something about that Tracer Nin was off." She applied some antibiotic ointment to the stitched wound

before bandaging it. Kakashi got a contimplative look on his face before flexing his hand as soon as Miirae had finished.

"Don't move it too much." said Miirae as she began to put away the medical supplies "You might pop the stitches."

"How's your arm?" he asked "It looked as though Zabuza cut it deeply."

"He did get me good." said Miirae "But it's almost healed." She showed Kakashi her right arm where a cut stretched from her wrist to her elbow "However, it's

most likely going to scar." The deepest part of the cut had scabbed over and there was a still forming scar where the cut had been shallower and around the

scab.

"Don't you ever do something like that again....... At least when I'm around." said Kakashi as he gave her a hard look "I was terrified when you decided to fight

Zabuza."

"Sorry father." said Miirae "But I couldn't let him attack Naruto. I know that it was stupid but......"

"I understand why you did it, Miirae." said Kakashi "Just don't do something like that again. I was afraid that it might have lost someone precious to me again.

Especially when Zabuza's water clone dragged you under."

"I guess I'm lucky that Tomi stowed away in my pack." said Miirae with a smile before looking over at Tomi and Kuma, who were both snoozing next to the

door.

"Very lucky." said Kakashi "That was a very interesting jutsu you used by the way."

"Thanks." said Miirae "Uncle helped me develop it. He's the one that taught me Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu. It took me a while to learn it though but the technique

can be useful. I just need to find the right situations to use it in."

"How about, not against a Mist ninja?" suggested Kakashi.

"I'll remember that." said Miirae with a smile "Now get some sleep. You need to be in top condition Sensei."

"I will." said Kakashi "Why don't you go check on your teammates."

"Alright." said Miirae as she stood up "But be sure to get some sleep." She smiled again before leaving the room. The moment she walked into the kitchen,

Naruto pounced onto her back.

"Did you get to see what was under Sensei's mask Miirae-chan?" He asked "Did you? Did you?"

"Naruto, you dobe, give her some room to breathe!" said Sasuke as he looked up from his ramen. Naruto glared at Sasuke but jumped off nonetheless.

"How's Sensei doing?" asked Sakura as Miirae joined them at the table.

"He'll be moving by tomorrow and ready to battle in a week." said Miirae as Tsunami served her some ramen "Thank you."

"You're welcome." said Tsunami as Miirae picked up her chopsticks "That's a pretty bad cut on your arm? How did you get it?"

"What? This?" said Miirae as she held up her right arm showing the scabbed and scarring wound "I got it during some sword training with my Uncle a week ago.

Nothing to worry about though. It isn't as bad as it looks." Tsunami nodded before leaving the room to do laundry. Once she was gone, Sasuke turned to Miirae.

"That's where Zabuza got you with his sword isn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah." said Miirae "Cut almost to the bone. I won't be able to use my arm when the muscle starts to heal. It'll scar, nothing more. I'll still be able to use it."

"How did your injury heal that fast?" asked Sakura "That shouldn't even be possible."

"For me it is." said Miirae "I inherited it from my mother's clan. It's a quirk most Caesins have. Our bodies product high amounts of chakra, too much for us to

control consciously. So our bodies unconsciously take the excess amounts of chakra and use it to repair our bodies at inhumane speeds. We still get scars but

our bodies will always function in peak condition but since I'm half-human, I'm still prone to getting things like colds but nothing too serious."

"I'm surprised it took you this long to notice Sakura." said Sasuke "Miirae's always been like this. Even during the Academy." Sakura looked down, a bit

ashamed of how little she knew about her teammates.

"Don't worry about it Sakura." said Miirae "Not many people notice."

"So did you see behind him mask?" asked Naruto.

"Sorry Naruto," said Miirae "But no."

"Aw man." said Naruto as he pouted. Miirae smiled at her friend.

"Don't worry Naruto," she said as she patted his back "Not many people have seen behind his mask."

"And how would you know that?" asked Sakura. Miirae instantly realized her blunder and quickly moved to cover it up.

"That's what I've heard from my Uncle." said Miirae "Sensei and my Uncle are friends. Old friends. Known each other for years, ya know? Uncle's told me that

Sensei's only shown three people his face. His father, his sensei, and his fiance."

"Sensei has a fiance?" asked Sakura excitedly "Who?"

"No one you would know." said Miirae sadly "His fiance died ten years ago. It's still a sore subject for him and for my Uncle and his family because Sensei's

fiance was related to the Caesin Clan. It would be wise if you didn't mention it because I shouldn't have even mentioned it."

"Oh." said Sakura quietly.

"No worries." said Miirae as she waved her hand dismissively before smiling sadly "Besides, there are other things to worry about that are more important at the

moment."

"Like what?" asked Sakura.

"Like Naruto's eating all the ramen!" said Miirae before she lunged for the ramen cup in Naruto's hands "Don't eat it all Naruto!"

"It's my ramen!" said Naruto as he jumped away from Miirae before the two of them started running around the table.

----the next day----

Team Seven was lounging around the main room of Tazuna's house with Tazuna while Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami was doing laundry. Miirae was reading her

favorite book, _'The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi'_ and rubbing Kuma's stomach while Tomi was sitting on her head, reading the book as well. Sakura and

Naruto were trying to see under Kakashi's mask (something that would never happen) while Sasuke just sat there watching. It was quite clear that he wanted

to see what was under Kakashi's mask as well but he wanted to come off as mature, so he just sat their and watched, hoping to catch a glimpse of Kakashi's

face.

"It's not going to work." said Miirae as she turned to the next page. Tomi yanked her hair a little bit and she turned back to the previous page.

"Tomi, Tomi!" said Tomi as he continued to read.

"You are such a slow reader Tomi." said Miirae before glancing up at her teammates. Kakashi suddenly opened his eye, scaring Naruto and Sakura. The two

genin jumped back and landed with a 'thud' while Miirae giggled a bit.

"I told you so." she said before flipping to the next page without any protest from the box turtle perched on her head.

"Oh, Kakashi-san." said Tsunami as she walked into the room "You're awake." Kakashi didn't say anything, instead he seemed to be thinking about something.

"Sensei?" said Miirae as she set the book down on her lap.

"Huh?" said Kakashi as he looked up at his students.

"What's wrong Sensei?" asked Naruto.

"Well," said Kakashi "It's just," he made a motion with his had as he tried to figure out how to word his thoughts "Body erasing teams usually dispose of the

body of the person they killed right there." A thought struck Miirae as Sakura spoke up.

"So what?" asked Sakura.

"That's the point, Sakura." said Kakashi "How did that mask boy dispose of Zabuza's body?"

"How could we know?" said Sakura with a shrug "The masked guy took the body with him."

"Why would a Tracer nin need the whole body," said Miirae "When he only needed the head?"

"My point exactly." said Kakashi "And the weapon he used to kill Zabuza."

"No way." said Sasuke as realization dawned on his face.

"Yeah." said Kakashi as he rubbed the back of his head.

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Tazuna.

"It is a very real possibility," said Kakashi "That Zabuza is still alive." That cued a freak out moment amongst Naruto and Sakura while Miirae seemed to be

thinking.

"I kinda figured that much." said Miirae with a sigh, gaining everyone's attention.

"What do you mean, Miirae-chan?" asked Naruto.

"It's clear that the tracer nin put Zabuza into a death-like trance." said Miirae as she crossed her arms "It's clear from the weapons that were used to take

Zabuza down. Acupuncture needles are commonly used by doctors for therapy reasons. A ninja needs to know the structure of the human body with a high

degree of precision if they choose to use acupuncture needles as their weapons. That's why they're the favored tool of Medical Ninja and the Hunter-nin of

certain villages."

"Exactly." said Kakashi "It is most likely that he intended to save Zabuza, not kill him. We can't ignore that possibility."

"Aren't you thinking too much?" said Tazuna "Hunter-nins are suppose to kill Missing-nins."

"No." said Kakashi "Besides, it's best to be prepared when suspicions like this arise and whether Zabuza is dead or alive, there's no assurances that Gatou hasn't

hired stronger shinobi."

"Sensei," said Sakura "What do you mean by, be prepared? You can barely move." Kakashi chuckled a little bit.

"I'm going to be increasing your training." he said.

"Training?" said Sakura "But Sensei! What's a little training going to do?! Our enemy is a ninja even you struggled against with the sharingan!"

"Sakura..." said Kakashi "Who saved me while I was struggling? You guys are growing rapidly. Especially Naruto." Kakashi smiled "You've improved most of all,

Naruto!" Kakashi got serious again "But obviously, you guys are just training until I get better. You won't be able to defeat Zabuza without me."

"But Sensei..." said Sakura before Miirae cut her off.

"You don't have to worry so much Sakura." said Miirae as she put her book away "Zabuza will be out of commission for a while. He'll need to recover from the

Death-like trance he was put in."

"Exactly." said Kakashi "So we train until then."

"Sounds like fun!" said Naruto.

"That's not fun..." said a little kid as he walked into the room.

"Who the hell are you?!" said Naruto before Miirae whacked him on the arm.

"There you are Inari!" said Tazuna.

"Welcome home Grandpa." said Inari as he kicked off his sandals before going over to Tazuna.

"Inari, say hello to these people." said Tsunami "They are ninjas who protected Grandpa." Inari looked at all of them before looking at his mother.

"Mom," said Inari "They're all going to die..."

"What did you say you little brat!" yelled Naruto before Miirae grabbed the back of his jacket, keeping him from charging at the little kid.

"There's no way you can win against Gatou." said Inari. Miirae's eyes softened as she looked at the little kid, who was radiating sadness.

"You little brat!" growled Naruto "I'll....!!"

"Chill Naruto." said Miirae as she yanked Naruto back "Just relax." The orange clad ninja landed on his ass and took a calming breath.

"Hey, Inari!" said Naruto as he stood back up "Listen! I'm a super hero who will one day become and incredible ninja called Hokage! I don't know who this

Gatou guy thinks he is but he's got nothing against me!"

"Hn." said Inari before looking up at Naruto "What are you, stupid? There's no such thing as a hero!"

"Why you-!?!" said Naruto as he went to lunge at the kid but Miirae yanked him back in mid leap and he landed on his ass again.

"If you don't want to die, you should leave..." said Inari as he walked over to the door that lead to the hallway.

"Where are you going, Inari?" asked Tazuna.

"To look at the ocean from my room." replied Inari before disappearing into the hallway.

"Sorry." said Tazuna after the door slammed shut. Miirae let Naruto go before standing up.

"I'm going outside." she said as she walked over to the door "Kuma, come." The black dog yipped and trotted after Miirae, once she pulled on her zori. The door

closed with a soft thud a few moments later. Once she was outside, Miirae let out a heavy sigh and walked towards the end of the pier, where she sat down.

"I've got a bad feeling about all of this guys." said Miirae as she set Tomi on the ground to her left while Kuma sat down to her right.

"Tomi?"

"Ruff?"

"I'm not sure exactly what it is." said Miirae "But it's just a feeling. Let's just hope nothing bad happens." Both animals nodded before all three of them looked

out across the calm ocean.

* * *

Sorry it took so long to post! I'll work on posting faster in the future!

Please review or leave a comment, it feeds starving authors!

Until next time, this is LegendarywriterZephyrStar signing out!


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